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While balancing on a piece of wood, two inches by four inches known as a 2x4, john and his friend sally both spotted a dalmatian inside a truck with sirens, headed to put out a fire. State what the 2x4 is made of.

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Basically, you overloaded your dog with too much stimulus too early in your relationship. Your dog needs you to be a leader he is close to and he trusts, so he can rely upon you to be his protector and he can trust you to take him only into safe situations. If he doesn't have this relationship to you he has to then decide on his own how to react to strange and threatening situations.

Exactly this.
Go back and lay the groundwork.
I'd not recommend a "full" two week shut down but your dog needs to realize you are his provider and as such, the leader.

As billsharp said, "learn the reasoning behind it", and you'll understand how to work with your puppy in a manner during which he'll begin to realize you are his leader and protector.

Usually, if a pup goes home at eight weeks, I say don't take the dog anywhere for a week. The pup has a whole new experience to learn, instead of me, they have other people to get to know, instead of littermates, there may be children, instead of his dam, there is a dog bed next to a people bed. It is a huge change. Take the dog to the vet, yes, but that is it. Have a person or two over, try not to over do it, let the pup settle in.

12 weeks is a little bit of problem. For one thing, the socialization period is from 3 weeks to 16 weeks. This does not mean you cannot socialize a dog beyond that point, it just means it is not received as well, and retained the same way. Positive experiences are really awesome for a dog prior to 16 weeks, and negative experiences are worse than if they happen a few weeks later.

Chances are if the dog was with the breeder for 12 weeks, then socialization experiences away from his dam and littermates were probably few and far between if not non-existent. This means you are four weeks behind. So a two week shut down, well I think that takes up even more of the special period, and I would not advise it.

The thing most people would want to do is flood the puppy with good experiences to make up for lost time. This is not the best thing to do with all dogs. With some dogs, one person, one place, on thing per day, and that is plenty.

It is like training, if 5 minutes is great, 50 minutes should be awesome -- not so, that will make a pup shut down. It is the same with socialization, one new thing, great; 45 new things -- scary bad.

We really do not know what all new things your pup was subjected to. You have to think like a dog a little bit. They are close to the ground, they experience audio, visual, smell, and touch etc. So the slick linoleum in the pet store, the gravel in the parking lot, the dirt on the path, the funky weeds in the grass, the asphalt, the concrete, cars grumbling by, an airplane or bird overhead, squirrels chirping, leaves rustling, a bitch in heat somewhere. There are so many things every minute, that a pup can hit overload.

Yes, we want fearless pups that are super dogs every moment from whelp to death, but a good dog is not a dog that has never experienced fear, it is a dog that will recover and be brave. At different periods, pups can go through times when the weirdest things weird them out.

Just take your dog out tomorrow, and do less. Stay positive. Start obedience classes where there are dogs (preferably puppies) and their owners working.

11-24-2012 05:41 PM

kelina

Weeell since you are teaching him, just enjoy him as you said !

I really hope everything will be ok!

Goooodluck!

11-24-2012 05:27 PM

miri23

Let me just say that i appreciate all of the comments. At this point i'm scared that my pup will grow up to be very fearful and aggressive towards other dogs, adults and worse kids. I will have to take things slower from now on. I think this might have been to much at one time for Crixus.
As far as basic obedience, i'm teaching him to sit, stay, leave it, not to pull on the leash and housebreaking.

I have been by Crixus side since the day i got him.

11-24-2012 05:23 PM

kelina

When our dog acts like an idiot, than they have just learned that acting like an idiot makes what they want happen. I think that the best thing to do, is to step out confidently, and if the pup starts to react, say EH! and with a little tug on the collar keep moving forward and away..."

Couldn't be said any better

11-24-2012 05:18 PM

kelina

Someone once told me, at 12weeks dont take out your dog to the dog park, they can attract diseases from other dogs.. at least thats what he said :P

I feel really bad about crixus but when we first got shadow, we went straight to basic commands. Did you try that? I am not much of an expert, but ill try helping .. build a relationship with your pup, make yourself his leader.

You say he is really hyper? Maybe thats why seeing pash he kinda jumped and barked... a LOT!

Goodluck with crixus

11-24-2012 05:17 PM

selzer

Every dog is different. Your dog might be reading body language of the other dog. Just because the dog seems calm, it may have been giving him the stink eye. It could also be that your pup has been secluded in a kennel situation and is not socialized at all to outside dogs. It sounds like he was ok in the pet store though -- I cannot remember if he met other dogs there.

Permanent scars are something I really don't believe in. I think that when the dog has a bad experience, we also have a bad experience. I think that tomorrow, the dog will remember and associate things about the situation, but they also take vibes from us. I think we have a harder time getting over things than our dogs do sometimes, and, well, we often transmit that to the dog by tensing up, or getting nervous, expecting the pup to act up.

Also, if the other dog or person backs up or goes away, when our dog acts like an idiot, than they have just learned that acting like an idiot makes what they want happen. I think that the best thing to do, is to step out confidently, and if the pup starts to react, say EH! and with a little tug on the collar keep moving forward and away from the item that he reacted to. Next time try to stay a little farther away. Even if the dog is moving in my direction, I would not turn around and walk the other way, or make my dog sit and stay. I would angle myself forward and away from the other dog, but keep going.

When on a bike path -- bikes are something dogs often react to. I listen for the bikes, or skateboards, and before the dog reacts, I steer him off the path and put him in a sit, allowing the dog to see the approach, but he is on task. I have told him to sit and stay, and I have only him there, and if necessary and he breaks his sit-stay, I can help him get into position again, and keep him there.

I don't like the idea that you feel you have no control over a 12 week old puppy. I suggest getting yourself in training classes with the dog post-haste. If you cannot control a baby, a ten or twelve month old adolescent with no manners will be a danger to society.

11-24-2012 05:05 PM

miri23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capone22

Looking forward to the responses. 12 weeks seems. VERY young for aggression, even if it is from fear. Did you get your dog from a breeder? Have you talked to the breeder about this?

Eta- by looking forward to the responses, I mean to learn more myself from the more knowledgable members here.
Sent from my iPhone using PG Free

I have not called the breeder yet. I came straing here to ask the question.

11-24-2012 05:01 PM

miri23

Quote:

Originally Posted by billsharp

Miri, you're going to get a lot of replies to your post, some of them probably rude, fussing at you for how you handled that situation. However, you do need some advice and help, so please read it all carefully, don't get your feelings hurt, and do some research on this site for help on how to train your "reactive dog" not to be reactive.

Basically, you overloaded your dog with too much stimulus too early in your relationship. Your dog needs you to be a leader he is close to and he trusts, so he can rely upon you to be his protector and he can trust you to take him only into safe situations. If he doesn't have this relationship to you he has to then decide on his own how to react to strange and threatening situations. In this case he felt threatened by Pash and the other dogs in the park and reacted in the way dogs naturally react--he became aggressive and unfriendly.

You need to read about the "two-week shutdown" and learn the principle behind it. Basically, you need to devote several weeks to establishing a trusting bond with your dog, just you and him.THEN and only then should you begin introducing him to small, secure, fun outings--short walks, meeting only one stranger or one friendly dog at a time, etc. As he gets used to these stimuli, and becomes more trusting of you, he will relax and begin to act more calmly around them.

Your concern is admirable, but your post seems to say that you are very confused about how to raise and train a dog. That is OK--we all start off that way--but you MUST educate yourself with lots of study on how your dog thinks and reacts and train yourself to be an appropriate owner.

READ, READ, READ!

Good luck!

Thank you for taking the time to educate me on the matter. I have not done the proper homework. I was to caught up on how to do basic training like sit stay potty training etc..

Do you think i have made a permanent scar on the pup from what happened today.

My friend took him out at the same age and he said there was no aggression whatsoever and he only had pash for 3 days at that time.

Thanks.

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